Advent Continued – December 3

I will take my stand to watch and station myself on the tower,And look forth to see what God will say to me concerning my complaint.And the LORD answered me:“Write the vision.Make it plain upon tablets,So the runner passing by in the valley below can read it,For the vision awaits its time;It hastens to the end – it will not lie.If it seems slow, wait for it;It will surely come, it will not delay. –Habakkuk 2: 1-2

This passage always makes me stop and think.Here is the scene.The watchman is positioned in the tower built on top of the hill.Built high enough so he can see who is approaching in any and every direction.A messenger appears, running down the length of the valley, looking up to see if there is any sign or message from the tower.“Right the vision,” the prophet says.“Write it large enough…Write it billboard size…So the runner can see it and read it without stopping or breaking stride.”

Rereading these words always makes me stop and wonder what vision, if any, I am writing with the daily actions of my own life. If I believe in peace is peace written large across the my daily life?If I believe in equality do my everyday actions reflect my words?If I believe that all should have enough and all should have a place, do I practice what I preach?I wonder…

As I move through these Advent days which lead to Christmas my prayer is this: May I be brave enough and faithful enough to write the vision of God’s Grand Dream, meant for us and for all, large enough and bold enough across my life that another, even in or especially in their busyness and haste, might catch a glimpse and so be reminded of values other than the ones splashed across our televisions and daily news. Reminded again of meaning and purpose and providence and hope.